With only a short time left before dinner and the next level, Ophelia changes out of her bloodied clothes while Blackwell makes her list the places she has already visited in the manor. When Ophelia mentions the frightening hidden corridor behind her bookcase, Blackwell decides they should investigate it. As they prepare to enter, Ophelia presses Blackwell with practical questions, and Blackwell explains that he cannot simply transport them anywhere at will because he must have physically visited a place before and conserving energy matters before her next trial.

Before they go in, Ophelia admits more about Genevieve and her family. Ophelia says Genevieve became fixated on Phantasma and its prize, likely hoping it could solve their financial problems, but Ophelia doubts money could repair their grief or family damage. Ophelia also reveals that her mother died only five days earlier, which underscores how recent her loss is and how much pressure she feels to save Genevieve and salvage their situation.

As they move through the passage with candles, Blackwell explains how Phantasma works. He says the manor itself chooses when to manifest a contestant's greatest fears, while Devils, Ghosts, Apparitions, and Ghouls help carry out haunts and traps. He also reveals that only Devils know who created Phantasma, and that contestants who survive to level eight may still have to kill each other or outbid one another for the right to enter level nine and meet the creator.

Deeper in the corridor, Ophelia asks Blackwell about his own condition. Blackwell admits he remembers no life outside Phantasma, does not know why he can act more freely than other Ghosts, and has spent endless cycles making bargains with contestants, watching them fail or win, and collecting ten years from successful winners. When Ophelia asks whether repeated deaths ever affected him, Blackwell warns that compassion is dangerous in Phantasma and tells Ophelia that survival requires a heart with teeth. Their tense, flirtatious exchange is interrupted when they reach the end of the passage and find only a broom closet.

Ophelia suspects the disappearing room responds to her rather than existing in a fixed place. After Blackwell tells her to picture the room she wants, Ophelia closes her eyes and concentrates on the hidden chamber she saw before. When she opens the door again, the room has changed as intended, proving that she can intentionally guide the shifting doorway and giving her a new way to search the manor.